Too Late
by inkeddd
Summary: Unbeknownst to Natsu, Lucy has been poisoned and only has two months left to live.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Just made this ****story up on a whim, actually.**

**Disclaimer: If a teenager like me owned Fairy Tail, all I can say that it would go downhill.**

Feet pounded hard against the ground of the forest. She was running - faster, faster. Yet she could tell that her energy was slowly draining. She had to keep going she had to - then she felt it. A sharp stab in her stomach. She let out a little gasp of pain as the sharp knife entered her body. She swayed.

"Lucy!" Natsu roared in anger. He let out a burst of flames at the offending mage.

_No. _Lucy thought. _I won't go down like this. I have to fight - for my friends! _Yet she didn't know how much longer she could hold on. Darkness began to cloud in the edges of her vision, and everything was spinning. She began to stumble, until she felt a pair of warm, muscular arms close around her.

"It's okay." he whispered to her as he hugged her closer.

Her eyes began to close. She couldn't breathe.

"Luce!" Natsu's panicked eyes looked into hers. He shook her.

Lucy winced, then opened her eyes - for one startling moment of clarity - to look up at the pink haired boy. There was a flame dancing in his eyes, and a small crease between his eyebrows. "Natsu," she breathed.

Then the darkness overcame her yet again and she knew nothing. 

The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was white ceiling of Porlyusica's small house.

"Lucy-san - you're awake!" Wendy exclaimed. Lucy's head turned towards Wendy, who had been intently watching the sleeping Lucy moments before.

"W-what happened?" she stuttered. She attempted to sit up, but Wendy gently pushed her back down to the comfortable pillows.

"You need rest," she said softly.

"I need to know - what happened?" Lucy asked more confidently.

She paused for a moment, then frowned. "Lucy-san…you were poisoned."

Lucy froze. "Poison? D-did you heal it?"

Tears began to stream down Wendy's small face. "I'm sorry! I-it was too late by the time Natsu brought you over to me. I'm sorry! I should have trained more…" Wendy sniffled.

Lucy's head jerked up. "How long do I have left?" she asked quietly as she looked into the wide brown eyes of the young dragon slayer.

"Lucy I don't -" Wendy's face grew serious.

"How long?" she asked sharply.

"A month, maybe two." she whispered. "I tried everything I could -"

"Thank you, Wendy." Lucy stated abruptly. Both she and Wendy were silent for a moment.

"Wendy, can we keep this a secret? Just between the two of us? Please. I-I don't want him to know." her voice broke.

Wendy hesitated, "Okay." she whispered.

Just then, Natsu burst through the door, looking disheveled. He had bags under his eyes, and looked exhausted. However, as soon as he saw Lucy, his eyes lit up and he grinned.

"Lucy!" he exclaimed. "You're awake!"

"Natsu," Lucy whispered, "H-how long was I out?"

Natsu's smiled faded. "A month," he said.

"He never left your side, Lucy-san." Wendy's eyes met Lucy's, and Lucy realized that she didn't have that much time left with Natsu. Her face crumpled.

"Lucy?" Natsu looked intently into her eyes with concern. "Are you okay?"

Lucy blinked, having been pulled out of her short reverie. "E-eh? Yeah, I'm fine." she replied quietly.

Natsu didn't look convinced. He turned to Wendy. The young mage was slightly trembling, sitting in her seat quietly.

"Can she go home?" he asked.

"Y-yeah," Wendy replied. "She'll have to see me for healing sessions, though," she sent a meaningful glance towards Lucy.

Lucy slowly sat up and swung her legs over the side of the cozy bed. However, as she tried to walk towards the door, she stumbled. Pain shot up her side. Natsu caught her in his arms. She looked up and into his eyes.

"T-thank you," she stuttered. 

Once Lucy and Natsu reached Lucy's apartment, Lucy collapsed on her bed, breathing heavily. Even though Wendy had healed Lucy as much as she could, the amount of pain she had was almost too much for her to handle. Lucy blinked furiously to get rid of the red spots dancing in her vision.

Meanwhile, Natsu was pacing back and forth.

"Natsu, was I really out for a month?" Lucy asked quietly.

Natsu stopped his pacing, his back facing her. "Yeah, we thought you were going to die, Luce. You stopped breathing." he took a deep breath, then continued. "N-never do that again. I don't want you to die. If you died…" Natsu turned around shakily. "I don't know what I would do."

Lucy froze. Natsu had just voiced one of his deepest fears, and unbeknownst to him, in a few months, it would come true.

"Nats-," Suddenly, a wave of pain overcame her. She choked. She couldn't breathe. She writhed in pain on the bed, groaning. Tears streamed down her face.

"Lucy!" Natsu shouted. "Lucy, snap out of it - please." He held her in his arms until she calmed down.

"Natsu," she breathed.

"Maybe we should take you back to Wendy. She can fix this." Natsu stated firmly.

Yet Lucy knew that there was no fixing this, only delaying. Delaying until an inevitable death. A death she was afraid of. Yet she had to be brave. She took a deep breath, "No, it's fine,"

"Are _you _fine? She can make you feel better," Natsu insisted. His grip tightened on her.

"I'm okay," Lucy stated, looking firmly into Natsu's onyx eyes. "Really - I'm okay."

Deep down, Lucy knew that she was telling a lie.

**How was it? Please review, it would make me so happy. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Here's the next chapter. I don't know how often I will be able to update, mainly because I get around 4-5 hours of homework each night and I have a lot of other things to do as well. I'm going to try to update at least once a week though. **

**Thanks for reviewing and favoriting! It means a lot to me. **

**Disclaimer: There's no way I own Fairy Tail...I'm not a genius, or anything. **

Lucy sighed. It had been a long week since she had woken up - from the guild celebration, to Natsu, it had been all been very overwhelming.

Yet she was extremely excited about what was coming up tonight: it was the Rainbow Sakura festival, and Natsu had asked Lucy if she would want to see the vibrant colors at the festival.

_Lucy was asleep, dreaming about a world in which she and Natsu had countless more adventures - until Happy woke her up._

_The small blue cat had flown into her chest. "Luce! Wake up!" he squealed. Lucy sat up to see that the pair had gotten into her apartment through the window, as usual. _

_"__Natsu, Happy…let me sleep." Lucy groaned. She hadn't gotten much sleep the night before because the guild had thrown her a party, and she had been looking forward to sleeping in this morning. _

_"__But Luce!" Natsu whined. "I wanted to go on a job with you today!"_

_"__Natsu you know it will be a while before my strength returns," Lucy mumbled from under her pillow. Somehow she found the strength to sit up, rubbing exhaustion from her eyes. _

_"__I know…" Natsu's cheery attitude vanished. _

_"__Why don't you go on a job without me?" Lucy asked. "You know it'll be a while before I can use magic again reliably." _

_"__We're a team!" Natsu exclaimed as if it was obvious. _

_"__Natsu…" Lucy said softly. She looked down at the ring of keys in hand. It had become a habit for her ever since she'd woken up, to sleep with her keys. She felt safer, knowing that her friends were always there for her. _

_Everyone was silent for a moment._

_"__Hey, Luce. Do you want to go to the Rainbow Sakura festival with me tomorrow night?" Natsu asked suddenly._

_"__The Rainbow Sakura festival! I totally forgot about that!" Lucy exclaimed._

_"__So…is that a yes, or a no?" he asked, rocking backing and forth on heels._

_"__Natsu?" Lucy looked up at him. Natsu was staring back at her intently. _

_"__Yes," Lucy whispered in reply. _

_"__He likesss you!" Happy purred. _

"Lucy-san?" Wendy waved her hand in front of Lucy's face, jerking Lucy out of her reverie. "Does that feel better?"

"Thank you, Wendy." she said quietly. Lucy had just completed another healing session with Wendy in order to fend off the effects of the poison. Lucy felt exhausted, and slumped in her chair. _What is the point anyway? I'm going to die at some point or another._ Lucy thought._ No, I can't think like that. I have to stay strong - for my friends._

Lucy decided that it would be better if she went home. She stood up to leave and walked towards the door.

"Lucy-san," Wendy hesitated, "When are you going to tell Natsu-san that…you know," her hands gestured uselessly.

"I don't know, Wendy." Lucy's voice trailed off. She didn't want to think about what lay in store, she just wanted to think about the present.

"You're going to have to tell him at some point, you know."

Lucy sighed, "I know,"

Lucy slowly walked toward her apartment that afternoon, lost deep in her thoughts, when she heard a voice behind her.

"Lucy…you're alive." the voice simply stated.

Lucy froze in her tracks. _Could it be…?_ she thought. She cautiously turned around. In front of her stood a tall, handsome celestial spirit with penetrating eyes and golden brown hair.

"Loke," Lucy breathed.

The pair - celestial spirit and wizard stood in the middle of the cobbled street for a moment, simply drinking in the other's existence.

"Let's go to your apartment. We have a lot to discuss." Leo the Lion suggested, breaking the silence.

Lucy simply nodded, to astounded to speak. Inside, her mind was racing. _He said that I was "alive" as if I wasn't…what happened? _

As soon as they reached the door of the apartment, Loke opened the door.

"Ladies first," his hand gestured in a sweeping motion.

Lucy rolled her eyes and walked into her home. _Same Loke as always. _However, as she stepped inside, she stumbled. She knew that her energy had drained throughout the day, but she didn't know that it had drained this much. Quickly, before Loke could notice, Lucy righted herself and flung herself onto the bed. Loke narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"So, Loke, what happened?" Lucy asked cheerily to divert his attention.

Loke looked down and sighed. "You were poisoned." he said.

Lucy rolled her eyes yet again. "I _know_ that Loke. It's just that…when you first saw me," she hesitated, "you said that I was alive, as if I hadn't been,"

"You died, Lucy. You were dead for a whole entire minute, as I'm sure the rest of the guild members are well aware." Loke said quietly, watching Lucy's brown orbs slowly widen.

"E-eh? I died? Why didn't anyone tell me that? Why I am I alive? Did Natsu know? How did you know?" Lucy burst out.

Loke smiled, despite the situation. "Slow down, Lucy, I'll tell you in due time,"

"Then _tell me!_"

"As you well know, you and some members of Fairy Tail were fighting a group of mages attempting to rob the Ancient Scrolls. You were stabbed in the stomach with a knife."

"I know _that,_" Lucy interrupted, desperate to hear what had happened to her.

"Patience!" Loke commanded. "However, by the time Natsu brought you to Wendy, you had died."

"No…" Lucy whispered.

Loke bluntly ignored her. "Thankfully, the knife had poison in it," he continued, "and that poison was the thing that saved you and enabled Wendy to bring you back," Loke's eyes were distant, as if he were reliving a painful memory. "In the celestial spirit world - I can't really explain it - but our connection with you was broken, for the ever so slightest amount of time. We all thought you were dead, Lucy. I tried to come back, but I couldn't - until now."

Lucy didn't say anything for a moment, trying to wrap her mind around what she had just heard.

_Why didn't Natsu tell me? _she thought.

Finally, she spoke, "Loke, you know, right?" Lucy tried to keep her voice strong, but she couldn't help it - her voice broke.

Loke pursed his lips as he looked away. "I know," he said softly.

"What will happen to you guys?" Lucy asked.

Loke's eyes closed, and a tear trickled down his cheek. "The keys will dispersed once again, and we will get a new master." he whispered.

Just the fact that her friends would have to be separated once again was killing Lucy. Yet it wasn't just that - she didn't even have the strength to say goodbye - no, talk - to her friends. Lucy's lower lip trembled - she didn't want to say goodbye to her friends. "I-I can't open any gates, Loke, I wan-I want to say goodbye,"

"Not yet, Lucy. I will help you when the time comes." Loke said.

The pair, celestial spirit and wizard paused again, looking at each other. Suddenly Lucy realized that this could very possibly be one of the last times that she would talk to Loke.

Unable to bear the silence anymore, Loke turned around, "See you," he whispered.

Loke disappeared, and all that was left was a glistening tear drop on the carpet.

"See you," Lucy whispered.

**Yes, this story is NaLu. Don't worry. (Who doesn't ship NaLu? They're perfect.) Anyways...please review! Thanks. **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Hey****guys! I thought I would post this today because I already had this written. However, I won't be able to post until Sunday due to complications and my semblance of a life. I would really appreciate it if you guys reviewed and gave some constructive criticism (thanks, CopDog!) I love hearing from my readers, and I always would like to know new ways to improve my writing.**

**Thanks! **

**Disclaimer: There is no way that I own Fairy Tail...that pleasure goes to Hiro Mashima.**

Lucy looked at herself in the mirror._ Perfect._ She didn't know why, (well maybe deep down, she did) but she had just spent 2 hours picking out her outfit, doing her makeup, and fixing her hair for the Rainbow Sakura Festival with Natsu. Lucy had decided to put on minimal makeup, and she wore a summery white dress. Her blonde hair was down, unlike the usual double pigtails she usually wore. She glanced at the clock. _Five more minutes until he picks me up! _Lucy squealed.

Lucy paced around her home, unsure of what else to do, until a glint of gold and silver caught her eye. Her keys! Even though she couldn't use them, just having them there with her made her feel safer. A wave of sadness suddenly overcame her. In just a little over a month, her friends wouldn't be together anymore. _No Lucy. _She scolded herself. _No time for that. You're going to have fun tonight. _

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. _Who could that be? Natsu usually comes through the window…_Cautiously, Lucy opened the door and gasped at what she saw. Outside stood a handsome pink haired boy - no, a man - in a black suit with his hands in his pockets. Lucy couldn't help but giggle. He just looked so…different.

"Natsu!" Lucy almost couldn't hold back her laugh. "Did Erza make you wear that?"

Natsu looked to the side. "Maybe," he grumbled.

Lucy laughed. "You look nice!" she said.

Natsu blushed, and Lucy couldn't help but laugh again. It was a rare occasion to see Natsu out of words.

"What did I do?" Natsu glared at Lucy accusingly.

Lucy put a hand over her mouth. "Nothing, Natsu…it's just-" she burst out laughing even harder.

"Let's just go," he grumbled again.

Eventually, Lucy's fits of laughter calmed down as Natsu led her down the cobblestone streets of Magnolia towards the festival.

When they reached the field where the rest of the guild was sitting, Mira squealed, "Natsu! Lucy! You guys look _so _cute together!"

"_Lu-chan!" _Levy cheered. "I love the dress!"

Lucy couldn't help but blush, and a sidelong glance at Natsu confirmed her suspicions that Natsu was blushing just as much as she was.

"Oi! Flame Brain!" Gray called. "Finally got yourself a girl, huh?"

This comment not only earned Gray a punch from Erza, but a glare from Natsu.

"Wanna fight?" he asked.

"Bring in on!" was the reply from Gray.

Lucy held him back. "Not right now Natsu. You are so not ruining this right now."

The usual chatter from the guild continued until the Master calmed everyone down for the annual bingo name. After a while, everyone was getting really close for the coveted "bingo" on their cards.

"BINGO!" Natsu yelled in excitement.

"Aw…" Lucy grumbled. She had been so close to winning the bingo prize.

"The prize is…these balloons!" Mira announced.

"Balloons!?" everyone gasped in disappointment.

"I love balloons!" Natsu jogged up to the podium in anticipation and paused. "Hey, Luce…do you want these?"

Lucy blushed and nodded, a smile spreading on her face. Natsu handed the balloons to her.

"He likes you!" Happy purred, which earned him a glare from Natsu.

The bingo game continued, and everyone joked and laughed, happy to be free of burdens for once. Lucy was content to spend so much time with her friends, until a wave of pain rolled upon her. She gasped.

"Luce!" Natsu yelled.

Wendy ran over, worried. Lucy was breathing heavily, and dark spots were clouding her vision.

"It's okay. I've got it." Wendy said calmly. "Natsu - you need to keep her awake, if she passes out…" she didn't finish that sentence.

"Lucy look at me, its okay. Stay awake, stay with me." Natsu pleaded.

Lucy's large brown orbs began to close just as Wendy began her magic. Her breathing began to slow.

"_No!_ Luce please - remember all the adventures we had…stay with me!" Natsu's voice broke, and his hands were clenched in fists at his side.

By this point, the rest of the guild had gathered around, and the Master was frowning, deep in thought. The whole guild was holding their breaths.

Suddenly, Lucy gasped, and her eyes opened again.

"Natsu…I heard your voice," she whispered, looking up into his eyes.

"You're okay," he breathed.

"Lu-chan…I thought you were fully recovered," Levy's eyes were narrowed.

Everyone looked towards Lucy who was looking down at her lap.

"It's just the after effects - she'll be okay," Wendy answered for Lucy.

Lucy looked up. "Don't worry everyone - I'm fine." she confirmed.

The sun began to set, and the reds and oranges and pinks began to blend in with the sky. Small birds flitted across the horizon, and it was beautiful.

"Maybe we should go home, Lucy," Natsu said, worried. "We can watch the fireworks from there. There's always next year,"

_Except when there isn't. _Lucy thought. Her eyes met Wendy's.

"No, I want to go this year Natsu. I'll be fine - really." she insisted.

Natsu sighed and helped her up.

"Okay - let's go." he told her.

"Where are you going?" Erza demanded.

"Somewhere else." Natsu answered vaguely.

"He likes you!" Happy purred again.

"Shut up, Happy!" Lucy glared at the cat.

Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand and pulled her to a nearby hill. Lucy blushed. Slowly, the sky turned black, a blanket over the city of Magnolia. Each glittering star was like a soul, each constellation a story to tell, each galaxy a society of its own. The sakura trees began to get their beautiful rainbow color that the festival was known for. Each leaf had its own vibrant shimmery quality.

Finally he stopped, and Lucy almost ran into Natsu, until she stopped herself. He turned around and just drank her in, a crease between his eyebrows.

"Hey, Luce…you _are_ okay, right?" Natsu asked.

Lucy rolled her eyes, appreciating Natsu's concern all the same. "Yeah, Natsu…I'm fine."

"Okay…just checking," he replied his eyes filled with concern.

There was a pause in the conversation, but it wasn't awkward at all, rather, it was nice. The fire dragon slayer and celestial wizard sat and watched, hand in hand, the beautiful sakura trees.

"They're really pretty, aren't they?" Lucy breathed in wonder. The trees were even better up close.

"Yeah," Natsu replied.

Lucy nestled against Natsu, and he tilted her chin up so her eyes met his. For a minute, they just stared into each other's eyes - brown into onyx, drinking each other in. Lucy blushed.

"You're really beautiful, you know that?" Natsu breathed.

Lucy paused - this wasn't like Natsu, to say stuff like this…but then again, Natsu was unpredictable.

"Thanks," she blushed.

They stared into each other's eyes again, and this time, Natsu pulled Lucy's lips closer to his - their lips almost met - until Lucy turned her head away and stood up, taking a step away from him.

"Luce?" Natsu frowned.

Lucy closed her eyes, her back to Natsu.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I-I can't,"

With that, Lucy took off into the night.

**How was it? Please review. :) **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**So this is chapter 4. It's kind of a filler, and I'm sorry - but it's necessary to the plot. I'm going to try and update again on Sunday. Next week, I'll be able to update a lot because it's Thanksgiving Break, so look forward to that. **

**Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows! Seriously, those things make me so happy.**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Fairy Tail, but obviously, I don't. **

As Lucy slammed her apartment door right behind her, panting, a million thoughts ran through her head. She remembered how Natsu had acted when she had had that panic attack - he had looked as if he was about to explode. Yet even that didn't compare to when Future Lucy had died during the Grand Magic Games. That time, Natsu really _had _gone haywire.

The truth was that Lucy didn't want to lead Natsu in a relationship that would never happen. She didn't want to hurt him. Her mind flashed back yet again to the festival.

"You're really beautiful, you know that?" he had said. His words swirled around and around in her head, his onyx eyes and salmon colored hair. The way he had looked at her, the way he had given her his balloons, the way their lips had almost met -

"Lucy!" Natsu banged on the window forcefully. "Let me in! Right now!"

_Should I answer him? _Lucy thought. _No, it's better not to say anything now. _She turned her head away. This was breaking her apart from the inside - bit by bit.

"Luce?" Natsu questioned. Lucy could imagine Natsu frowning, hating how petulant he sounded. "What's wrong?"

Lucy turned her head away from the window, closing her eyes.

"I'm sorry Natsu," she whispered, so quietly that she knew that even Natsu couldn't hear.

"Please…Lucy….I really-I really like you," Natsu whispered.

_I'm sorry, Natsu_. Lucy thought as she walked to her bed to close her eyes. _I just - I just can't._

Natsu walked over to the nearest tree and punched it, earning a few strange glances. He didn't care. He punched the tree again and again as he remembered what had happened just a few hours earlier.

_After pulling Lucy to a nearby hill - a hill he had specifically planned out before, Natsu came to a halt to admire the city of Magnolia. _

_Lucy, who had been lost in her thoughts, stumbled into him. Natsu's attention suddenly turned to Lucy. He remembered what had happened earlier - she looked like she was dying. In fact, judging by the worried look on Wendy's face, she _**_was_**_ dying. There was something she wasn't telling him - he was sure of it._

_"__Hey, Luce…you are okay, right?" Natsu asked, hoping that she would have the strength to tell him the truth. _

_Lucy rolled her eyes, yet there was a flicker of uncertainty in them. "Yeah, Natsu…I'm fine." _

_Now Natsu was sure that Lucy was lying. But what was she hiding?_

_"__Okay…just checking," he replied his eyes filled with concern, searching her eyes. Natsu decided to just enjoy the night. _

_There was a lull in the conversation, but it wasn't awkward at all, rather, it was nice. The fire dragon slayer and celestial wizard sat and watched, hand in hand, the beautiful sakura trees. _

_"__They're really pretty, aren't they?" Lucy breathed in wonder. The trees were even better up close. Yet more then that - her eyes were beautiful, her golden hair flowing down her shoulders, and her caring and loyalty for her friends - for the guild. _

_"__Yeah," Natsu replied. _

_Lucy nestled against Natsu, and he tilted her chin up so her eyes met his. For a minute, they just stared into each other's eyes - brown into onyx, drinking each other in. Lucy blushed._

_"__You're really beautiful, you know that?" Natsu breathed and she was. Suddenly Natsu was filled with a warm indescribable feeling for Lucy - love. _

_Lucy paused, and there it was again - a flicker of uncertainty. Yet Natsu decided to shove all doubts away. _

_"__Thanks," she blushed. Natsu was filled yet again with that indescribable feeling - she looked so beautiful. _

_They stared into each other's eyes again, and this time, Natsu pulled Lucy's lips closer to his - their lips almost met - until Lucy turned her head away and stood up, stumbling away from him._

_"__Luce?" Natsu frowned, the rest of his body frozen. His brain still hadn't caught up to what was happening. _

_"__I'm sorry," she whispered. "I-I can't," _

_With that, Lucy took off into the night, leaving a confused Natsu behind._

_After a few seconds, Natsu realized that Lucy was running off toward her apartment. He hurriedly took off after her. _

_"__Damn." Natsu muttered under his breath when he reached her apartment - the door was locked. _

_So he went around to her window. He could faintly smell Lucy's vanilla and strawberry scent - she was definitely in the apartment. _

_"__Lucy!" Natsu banged on the window forcefully. "Let me in! Right now!" _

**_There wasn't an answer? Why wasn't she answering? Something is definitely wrong, _**_Natsu thought. _

_"__Luce?" Natsu questioned, hating how petulant he sounded. "What's wrong?"_

_Natsu just wished that Lucy would tell him the truth - they had been through so much together. Why didn't she trust him?_

_Again, there was no answer. _

_"__I'm sorry Natsu," she whispered, so quietly that Natsu was sure that she thought that he couldn't hear her. But she could._

_Natsu really wanted to know what was wrong - to the point that it was frustrating him. _

_"__Please…Lucy….I really-I really like you," Natsu whispered._

_Then he left, because he knew that there would be no point in doing otherwise - for now. _

"Oi! Flame Brain!" a voice called behind Natsu, jerking him out of his reverie.

"What!" Natsu spun around angrily, fire aflame in his hands.

Gray put his hands up. "Whoa, there Natsu. What's wrong?"

Natsu turned back around and punched the tree again. "Nothing's wrong." he growled.

"Something is very obviously wrong - I'm assuming something happened with Lucy," a new voice said.

Natsu's emotions were a tangled mess - he didn't know whether to be angry at Lucy, or to be worried, but then again, he really liked - no loved - her, but she left him. Right now, however, he was more angry then anything else.

"Shut. UP." Natsu growled, spinning around to punch whoever had just said that - until he came face to face with the well known S-class mage, Erza. His hand stopped immediately less than an inch from her face. Ezra's hand gently came up and pushed his hand aside.

"What happened? The last time I saw you, you were with Lucy." Ezra had a concerned look in her eyes.

Natsu turned away from her.

"Oh, I see," Gray smirked. "She ditched you because she realized how you _really_ were,"

Before Natsu could do anything, Erza punched Gray in the shoulder.

"Ow," Gray complained.

"Natsu…you know you can tell us, right?" Erza stated gently.

Natsu ran his hands through his hair, unwilling. However, at the almost pleading glances from Gray and Erza, he decided to tell them.

"Luc-Lucy's back at her appointment." he told them, stumbling through her name as he took deep breaths to calm himself.

"Why is she there?" Gray inquired.

"I don't know!" Natsu retorted, frustrated.

"Let's go over there and try to go there," Ezra stated calmly. "Maybe we can talk some sense into her,"

Natsu kicked at the tree. "Don't you think I've already tried that?" he felt like screaming.

"Well, then let's try again," Erza said, tugging Natsu toward Lucy's apartment.

"Fine," Natsu grumbled.

As they made their way over to the apartment, Natsu could have sworn that he saw a flash of a certain dragon's slayer blue hair.

Lucy twisted and turned under her covers. She couldn't fall asleep. Every single time her heavy eyelids closed, _BAM!_ Natsu's face would pop into her head and an all too familiar heart ache would return.

_Why couldn't things be simpler? Why couldn't she just live happily ever after with Natsu - with no poison? _she thought. _No, Lucy, _she scolded herself. _This is the real world. There aren't any happy endings. _

Suddenly, a wave of pain overtook her. Her vision flashed red, and every vein in her body seemed to explode with an overload of pain. She tried to scream, do something, but she couldn't breathe. She choked, coughed, spluttered, as her body convulsed.

Then she dived headfirst into the solitude was black.

**Tell me what you think by reviewing! Thanks. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Here's the next chapter. I have a few days off this week from school for Thanksgiving, so hopefully I'll be able to update at least once or twice again before Sunday. **

**Thanks again for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows! **

**I was looking back at my other chapters and I am so sorry for the no line breaks thing. There aren't any line breaks in this chapter (none are needed), but I'll try to fix it later.**

**Disclaimer: Naturally, I don't own Fairy Tail.**

**Enjoy! **

Natsu banged on Lucy's door - only because Erza had said it would be more "gentleman like" to enter through the door rather then the window, as he usually did.

"Lucy! I know you're in there!" he said loudly.

"Oi! Lucy! Open up!" Gray shouted.

Finally, Erza lost all patience and simply banged the door open. Natsu shoved past Erza and Gray and burst into the room.

"Luce!" he called. "Where are y-"

Lucy was on the bed. To just about anyone else, Lucy could have been asleep. Yet Natsu knew better. By her scent, he could tell something was wrong - she was pale, and was barely breathing. He ran over to the bed.

"Lucy? Wake up!" he shook her, a little desperately.

Gray and Erza ran into the room.

"What's wrong, Flame Brain? She's just sleeping. Are you _that _desperate?" Gray smirked.

Erza frowned. "She's not sleeping, Gray. I think Natsu is on to something."

"Lucy - please! Wake up!" Natsu was getting scared. However, Lucy remained unconscious.

Suddenly, Wendy ran into the room. "Where's Lucy-san?" she asked hurriedly.

Erza pointed to the unresponsive Lucy and Natsu. Wordlessly, Wendy ran and pushed aside Natsu, who made no move to stop Wendy whatsoever. She began using her magic to heal. Slowly, color began to return to Lucy's face. Everybody collectively sighed in relief.

"Lucy!" Natsu shook the said Lucy again.

Wendy put a hand Natsu's shoulder. "Natsu-san, she'll wake up in a little bit, her body's just…exhausted." Wendy frowned.

Erza, sensing that it was time for her and Gray to go, stated, "Gray and I have some work to do at the guild - keep us updated."

She then promptly dragged Gray out of the room. "Hey!" Gray complained.

"Wendy, what's wrong with Lucy?" Natsu asked.

"E-eh? Nothing's wrong with Lucy!" Wendy said, shaking her head vehemently, trying to cover for the celestial wizard.

Natsu closed his eyes. "Something's wrong with her, Wendy. Please don't lie to me."

Wendy sighed, "You're right Natsu-san, something _is _wrong, but it's not my place to tell. You'll have to ask Lucy-san and find out for yourself."

With that, the young mage walked out of the room.

So Natsu sat, just as he head done earlier when Lucy had first been attacked, and watched her. Even in a state like this, she was so beautiful. The light shined at the just right angle on her face. Her flowing blonde hair rested on the pillow, her mouth slightly open, breathing small, even breaths.

Natsu tentatively picked up her hand, and whispered, "I love you Lucy."

Natsu had known Lucy for years, through each and every adventure, each hardship, each victory. They'd been through it all - from a messed up timeline, to being stuck on a magical island for seven years - unaware.

His thoughts turned yet again to the past few days, their almost kiss, and Lucy running away. Also, all those times when Lucy had said that she had been "okay" - even when Natsu was sure that she was alright. It was this that frustrated Natsu most. He felt that Lucy thought that she couldn't trust him with the truth, however horrible it might be.

Lucy opened her eyes and turned her head toward Natsu, who was stuck in his thoughts.

"Natsu," she breathed, jerking Natsu out of his reverie.

Natsu looked at Lucy, who tried to sit up. He gently pushed her back down, first letting go of her hand.

"You need to rest, Lucy,"

"No, I'm okay, Natsu - really."

Natsu froze, and closed his eyes.

"Stop," he commanded softly, yet firmly.

"Stop what?" Lucy had a puzzled look on her face, and when she tried to sit up again - and succeeded - Natsu made no move to stop her.

"Stop lying to me," Natsu's voice rose, "Stop pretending that you're okay when you're not. Just - stop,"

This time, it was Lucy who closed her eyes, yet she still didn't say anything, so Natsu continued talking.

"I know something's wrong, Lucy. Something's not right. Wendy told me." Natsu said.

Lucy froze. "S-she told you?"

Natsu sighed. "She told me part of it - she said something was wrong. But she said I had to find out the rest from you." he looked at her expectantly.

"It's better if you didn't know, Natsu," Lucy opened her eyes and looked out the window.

Natsu slammed his hand on the bedside table, frustrated.

"What do you mean, it would be better if I didn't know?" Natsu was nearly shouting. "Lucy - I thought we were friends - more than that." his voice went down to almost a whisper.

"I'm sorry. I just didn't want to hurt you."

"Hurt _me_? How the hell would being with me hurt me?" Natsu's voice rose yet again.

Lucy didn't say anything.

"Please, Lucy. Just tell me the truth." Natsu pleaded.

Lucy sighed, "Fine. Remember when I got poisoned?"

Natsu nodded, an ill feeling in his stomach.

"Wendy and Porlyusica tried to heal the poison - get rid of it, but they could only delay the effects," Lucy said shakily.

"W-what does that mean?" Natsu asked, dreading the answer that he was almost sure would follow.

"I'm going to die, Natsu," Lucy closed her eyes, voicing Natsu's deepest fear.

"You still have time, right? We can find a cure!" Natsu said hopefully.

"There isn't a cure, Natsu. Don't you think that the master - and the healers - have already looked?" Lucy sighed, and continued, "Originally, I had two months left. But now, I don't know, Natsu. It's been getting worse, and Wendy said I only have a month. "

"No," Natsu choked. "You can't die. I _will_ find a cure."

Natsu turned to walk out of the room, when Lucy grabbed his hand.

"Promise me. Promise me you won't look for a cure."

Natsu turned to look back at Lucy. "So you're saying you _want_ to die? he asked incredulously.

"No, when I die, I want you with me. Not trekking across the country for some invisible cure." Lucy blushed, "There isn't a cure. Wendy even asked the ghosts of those dead dragons back under the arena of the Grand Magic Games. Master's asked everyone, and so has Mira."

"Okay." Natsu nodded.

"Promise me,"

"I-I promise," Natsu said, lying.

Lucy yawned, and rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"You should get some sleep," Natsu said softly.

She nodded, and tugged him toward her.

"Stay with me." Lucy said quietly. "What if - what if something happens, and no one's there?" she asked, voicing her deepest, darkest fears.

"Okay," Natsu replied.

So the two - dragon slayer and celestial wizard - slept, in the most literal sense.

**Thanks for reading! Remember to review. It makes me so happy. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**I'm sorry - I promised I'd update during the week, but I ended up not having time. I hope all of you living in the United States had a Happy Thanksgiving! I can't say when I'll update again - I'll try to make it soon, but midterms are coming up, along with a slew of other extracurricular activities. **

**Thanks for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows! It makes me so happy!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Hiro Mashima. **

**Enjoy! **

Natsu woke up the next morning to the soft sound of Lucy's breathing. The sun's rays shone through the window, and the birds were chirping - it was a beautiful day in Magnolia. Yet Natsu didn't notice any of this. He was too busy taking in Lucy's beautiful figure - her eyes, her nose, her hair - her everything. He rolled over, about to go to sleep, when last night's events finally hit him.

_"__I'm going to die, Natsu," _Lucy had stated the horrendous fact so simply, as if she had already given up - that was what scared Natsu the most. She wasn't fighting - she was dying.

_Aren't we all dying? _Natsu thought bitterly as he climbed out of the bed. Lucy was still asleep, and probably wasn't going to wake up for a while - she was exhausted. Normally, Natsu would never break a promise to anyone - especially Lucy. This wasn't normal, though. Natsu quietly shut the door to Lucy's apartment and walked outside.

"I'm sorry, Lucy," he whispered,

Natsu haphazardly stumbled through Magnolia until he reached the humble abode he and Happy had made for themselves.

He burst through the door, yelling, "Happy! Where are you!"

Happy, who had been curled up in a corner on the floor, perked up. "Natsu! I looked for you forever! Where were you?"

"I was at Lucy's," Natsu panted.

"She lik-" Happy began to purr.

"No time for that," Natsu interrupted, "Lucy's dying, and we need to help her,"

"That's mean N-," Happy whined, "Wait - what? What do you mean?" the small blue cat realized halfway through his thoughts exactly what the words that Natsu had said implied.

"Lucy is dying," Natsu said again, hating how saying the words aloud made it all real.

Happy was silent.

"You're lying," he said finally, "Lucy's not dying - she's living, and she's going to live for a long time!"

Natsu walked over to the door and punched a whole through it, gritting his teeth.

"We need to find a cure. Soon." Natsu stated, as calmly as he could.

Happy's eyes widened.

"I'll go get Wendy! Porlyusica, too!"

Happy began to fly away until Natsu grabbed his tail.

"Happy, they've already tried - and gotten all the healers, too."

Happy visibly deflated. After a moment, however, something changed in his eyes.

"I'll look all over town for a cure!" he said determinedly, and promptly took off.

Natsu decided to check at the guild, first - he had a certain sky dragon slayer to talk with.

Natsu burst into the guild. "Where's Wendy!" he shouted. "I need to talk to her!"

Jet looked up, "Why do you want to talk to Wendy?"

"It's none of your business," Natsu growled.

The master sauntered over. "I'm afraid Wendy isn't here, Natsu. Why do you need to talk to her?"

"It's none of you business, Gramps!" Natsu stormed off angrily.

"Wait - is it about Lucy?" Master called out.

Natsu froze. "What do you know about Lucy?"

The master of Fairy Tail suddenly sounded 100 years older. "Come into my office, Natsu."

Natsu followed the master into his office, who was already perched upon his desk, facing the window, away from the fire dragon slayer.

Natsu didn't say anything, rather he waited for the master to begin.

Finally, the master sighed. "How much do you know about Lucy?"

"What she told me," Natsu replied, "She's lying, right? She has to be lying…"

"Natsu," the master said slowly, "Do you really think that Lucy would lie about something like that to you?"

"No," he mumbled. "But it's not true, right? There _is _a cure, right?"

The master sighed. "I'm afraid she's telling the truth Natsu. There _isn't_ a cure, and even if there was, it would be too late,"

"No. _No._" Natsu mumbled. "You're lying!" he shouted, sounding petulant. Turning, he began to run out the door, presumably to look for a cure.

However, the master reached out an enlarged hand to grab Natsu and pull him back in the room.

"This isn't something you can fight, Natsu." the master said wearily.

"Then what _can _I do?" Natsu whispered.

"Nothing,"

Natsu stepped forward and grabbed the master's shoulder. "No. _NO. _I will not just stand here and watch her die! I can't. Please. There has to be something. There _has_ to!"

"I'm sorry. The best you can do is stay with her until the end."

Natsu didn't say anything - he just stormed out the door of the office. He stormed right to the door of the guild, where Erza and Gray were standing, looking worn out.

"Where do you think you're going?" Gray asked accusingly.

"Gr-," Erza put a hand on Gray's shoulder, but Gray shoved it away roughly.

"It's none of you business." Natsu said, and attempted to walk past Gray again.

"If you're going to the National Archives, we've tried." Gray said wearily.

"Y-you knew!?" Natsu asked, surprised.

"Wendy told us." Erza replied.

"I'm still going. I don't care. Maybe you guys missed something." Natsu said.

Gray's hands were curled into fists at his side. "Idiot! Don't you think _we've_ tried? There isn't a cure!"

"There has to be! There's a cure for everything!" Natsu retorted. Flames were beginning to come out of his fists.

"We're friends with Lucy too!" Gray shouted, and sent a spray of ice at Natsu.

Natsu flew at Gray, and the two began fighting.

"STOP!" Erza shouted, picking the two boys up by their heads. She threw them to the floor. "We've tried, Natsu. I'm sorry, but do what Lucy wants you to do. Spend time with her, befor-before she d-dies."

For the first time, Erza showed how much this was really bothering her. A tear slipped down her cheek, but she hastily wiped it away.

"I'm sorry Natsu," Gray said, having calmed down.

Natsu didn't say anything, he just turned away and ran out into the streets of Magnolia.

**Thanks for reading! Please review - I love reading the reviews! See you in the next chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**Hey guys! This chapter is a little shorter, and I'm sorry. However, this is an earlier update than I expected, ****_and_**** it gets the job done.**

**Thanks for the reviews! It really makes my day to realize that there are people out there that actually read what I write. **

**Disclaimer: If I did own Fairy Tail, NaLu (and all of my other OTPs) would have happened a ****_long_**** time ago, and then there would be no need for all of these obsessive NaLu fan fictions. Sadly, Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail, and his hobby is torturing us by making us wait.**

**Enjoy!**

Natsu sat atop the roof of the guild, glumly staring out over the streets of Magnolia. The sun was beginning to set, and Natsu couldn't possibly think of a time where he felt worse.

He _hated_ not being able to do anything. Natsu was disgusted with himself - he couldn't bring himself to talk to Lucy, much less see her. In fact, he had spent the day avoiding Lucy as much as possible. Well, after he had ran out of the guild, he had spent the day avoiding _everyone _as much as possible.

"Hey, Natsu," said a soft voice behind him.

Natsu didn't reply.

"Why are you ignoring me?" the voice asked plaintively.

Natsu closed his eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Why?"

"I couldn't help find a cure…Erza and Gray went to the National Archives and couldn't find anything, and Happy and Charle searched everywhere. Worst of all, I just sat here - doing nothing," he said.

Lucy sat down next to Natsu and turned toward him.

"Natsu…I already know there isn't a cure, you didn't do anything wrong," she said quietly.

"I can't _help_! I can't just stand here and watch - and watch…" Natsu couldn't say it. His hands gestured uselessly in the air, and he looked so frustrated.

"Watch me die?" Lucy offered.

Natsu hated this. _How can she be so nonchalant about it?! She's dying._ He thought to himself. _Maybe it's because if she did care, she would fall apart. _Another voice said. Natsu was steadily getting more and more worked up.

"I can't do that! I can't bear it - watching you in pain," he burst out.

"Natsu, I'm fine now, I don't need help,"

_That's because there is no help for you now. _An evil voice in the back of Natsu's voice stated. He gritted his teeth. _Shut up! _He mentally shouted to the voice at the back of his mind. To distract himself, he turned to Lucy and thought about all that they had been through together. Gradually, he calmed down.

"I _know_ you don't need help. I know that - you're Lucy…that's what I like about you," Natsu's voice softened.

"Natsu…" Lucy whispered.

Natsu turned toward Lucy and looked into her brown orbs, holding both of her hands. Lucy's eyes turned sad all of a sudden.

"I can't lose you," he whispered.

Natsu leaned into Lucy, and his lips almost brushed hers - until she turned her head to the side, so that his lips touched her cheek. Yet Natsu could tell that she meant to pull away. He frowned, and tilted his head to the side, waiting for an answer.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Natsu closed his eyes. "You did that before, too." he said quietly, hurt.

"What?" she asked, although she already knew the answer.

"You pulled away…why are you running away from me?"

Lucy stayed silent, and looked out over the setting sun. The sky was a canvas, and it looked as if someone had painted the sky with a beautiful brush - the canvas was streaked with soft oranges, reds, and yellows, all with an underlaying hint of blue.

"Natsu…what will happen when I die?" Lucy turned away from Natsu and looked out over the sunset.

Natsu felt like punching something. "Stop it - stop talking about that!"

The thing was, Natsu couldn't think about what would happen once Lucy was gone. He couldn't bear to think of time when there would be no apartment to go to, no partner to fight with, no friend to laugh with. To Natsu, a world without Lucy didn't exist.

"You can't run away from it, Natsu." Lucy stated softly.

The young dragon slayer stayed silent, because he _did_ want to run away from it. He wanted to outrun everything in this world - old age, death, Lucy's sickness.

"Don't you think it would be easier? If we were just friends?" she asked softly.

Natsu shook his head. _She doesn't understand_. He thought frustratedly. _So make her understand. _Another voice replied.

Natsu turned to Lucy and asked in a hollow voice, "So I should just pretend?"

"Pretend what?"

Natsu shook his head. _What's the point, anyway? She's going to die eventually. _After realizing what he just thought, Natsu mentally slapped his face. He couldn't afford to think like that.

"Never mind. It doesn't matter, anyway."

"Natsu…?" Lucy frowned, and turned to look at Natsu.

It was then that Natsu really looked at Lucy. The small crease between her eyebrows, her dark brown orbs, her silky blonde hair - and the way the sun shone on her face, at a just right angle. Just like that, her light chased the darkness away, at least temporarily.

"I-I think I'm in love with you." he breathed.

Lucy closed her eyes, and the ever so slightest tear drop slipped down her cheek. A small strand of hair fell from her behind her ear, in front of her face. Natsu's hand tentatively reached out to tuck the stray strand of hair behind her ear. His hand trailed down her jaw, until his fingers tipped under her chin. With a jolt of surprise, Natsu realized that Lucy was shaking.

"Lucy? What's wrong?" Natsu asked as calmly as he could, although he, too, was shaking inside. However, as soon as the words tumbled out of his mouth, he wished he could stuff them back in - because a lot of things were wrong. Seriously wrong.

She pulled away from his surprisingly gentle touch, and looked at him sadly. "I think I am too," she whispered, and then, before Natsu could say anything else, she turned and climbed off of the roof, disappearing from sight.

It took a second for Natsu to completely process the exchange that had recently occurred. However, as he did so, he watched the light of the sunset disappear as it was smothered by the blanket of ebony night.

**How was it? Please review, and provide constructive criticism as well! I am always looking for ways to improve my writing. **

**As for the next update, I'll try to update sometime next week.**

**Thanks!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**Hey guys! Here's another chapter...there's actually some action in this one. I'll try to update soon, but exams are coming up. I promise I'll be able to update more when winter break begins. **

**Again, thanks for the reviews - it makes me so happy! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

**Enjoy!**

Lucy walked through the cobblestone streets of Magnolia under the soft moonlight, tears streaming down her face. Her mind wandered to the recent conversation she had had with Natsu atop a roof.

_"__Natsu…what will happen when I die?" Lucy asked, turning away from Natsu to look at the sunset. She was genuinely wondering - what would happen to her? What about her friends? What about Natsu? _

_Natsu looked like he was about to punch something. "Stop it - stop talking about that!" _

_His teeth were gritted, his hands clenched in fists. Lucy thought about earlier, when the news had first hit her. She had tried so hard to stop thinking about it - to just pretend. However, in the end, she realized that what was going to come was going to come. _

_"__You can't run away from it, Natsu." Lucy stated softly. She found it bizarre that she was the one comforting Natsu when she was the one that was about to die.. _

_The young dragon slayer remained silent. _

_"__Don't you think it would be easier? If we were just friends?" she asked softly. _

_Natsu shook his head frustratedly. _

_He turned to Lucy and asked in a hollow voice, "So I should just pretend?" _

_"__Pretend what?" Lucy asked, although he had a feeling that she knew what he was about to say. _

_Natsu shook his head again, looking as if he was contemplating something. _

_"__Never mind. It doesn't matter, anyway." His face portrayed some sort of intense emotion, once Lucy had never seen on Natsu's face. _

_"__Natsu…?" Lucy frowned, and turned to look at him._

_Natsu's face was illuminated by the setting sun, which was almost setting fire to his hair. A flame danced in his onyx eyes, in which she saw herself reflected back at her. _

_"__I-I think I'm in love with you." he breathed._

_Lucy closed her eyes, and as much as she wanted not to, the ever so slightest tear drop slipped down her cheek. This was due to the fact that, as much as she didn't want to admit it, she was pretending too. A small strand of hair fell from her behind her ear, in front of her face. Natsu's hand tentatively reached out to tuck the stray strand of hair behind her ear. It wasn't until she felt Natsu's touch that she realized that she was shaking. His hand trailed down her jaw, until his fingers tipped under her chin. Lucy wanted, in that instant, to become closer to Natsu, so much, and it to so much self control for her to stay still. _

_"__Lucy? What's wrong?" Natsu asked, calmly. However, as soon as the words tumbled out of his mouth, Lucy could tell that he wished he could stuff them back in - because a lot of things were wrong. Seriously wrong. _

_It was at that moment that Lucy did something she never thought she could do, she stopped running. She stopped running away from the inevitable, and pulled away from his surprisingly gentle touch, and looked at him sadly. "I think I am too," she whispered, and then, before Natsu could say anything else, Lucy realized what she had done - the damage - so she turned and climbed off of the roof, disappearing from sight._

Lucy didn't why she had done what she had done. She had just made things worse. Yet some part of her wanted to stop running. To stop running from her feelings, death, the pain. To stop and face them head on. _That's what Natsu would do, right? _Lucy thought to herself. A small smile graced her lips, and she felt a little better.

Lost in her thoughts, Lucy didn't hear the approaching footsteps behind her, or the muffled voices.

"Lucy Heartfilia," a deep voice stated.

The young celestial mage froze in her place. She remembered exactly where this voice came from. Her hand went immediately to her belt, where her keys where.

"What do you want?" she asked, slowly turning toward the man. Even though Lucy knew who he was, she jolted when she saw him. The tall mage had jagged black hair, penetrating black eyes, a narrow frame, and a burn running down his face - one that hadn't been there before.

Lucy's mind flashed back to that fateful day.

_"__Natsu!" Lucy yelled. Erza, Gray, Wendy, Charle, and Happy had already arrived in the forest. They were on a mission to defeat a dark mage working for Zeref. _

_"__Geez Luce. I'm coming, I'm coming," Natsu grumbled. "What does this guy want, anyway?"_

_"__He wants something or the other, Flame-Brain. Does it really matter?" Gray let out a puff of breath impatiently._

_Natsu thought for a moment, then ran over. "No, it doesn't, let's go! I'm all fired up!"_

_The group walked through the forest a little bit, when they were ambushed. The trees rustled, and wind whooshed through the air. The fairy tail mages had been ambushed. _

_Each of them began to fight a mage, using their powers. Lucy fought two mages - they both had dark weapons magic, and even with Loke, Lucy just couldn't seem to beat them. Suddenly, Loke disappeared. _

_"__I'm sorry, Lucy!" he stated apologetically. _

_Then Lucy ran. _

_Run. Run. Run. Feet pounding hard on the floor. Green foliage zipping by, and above, the azure sky dotted with white, fluffy clouds. _

_"__Natsu!" Lucy yelled. "Help!"_

_"__Calling for your boyfriend now, are you?" one of the mages sneered. _

_"__He's not my boyfriend!" Lucy snapped. _

_The dark mages were rapidly approaching. _**_Natsu. _**_Lucy thought to herself - she couldn't keep this up much longer. _**_Where are you? _**_Her magic was seriously depleted from fighting._

_She had to keep going, she had to - then she felt it. A sharp stab in her stomach. She let out a little gasp of pain as the sharp knife entered her body. Lucy looked down and saw red blood blossoming. She swayed._

_"__Lucy!" Natsu roared in anger. _**_There he is. _**_Lucy thought woozily. _

_He let out a burst of flames at the offending mage, scarring him - the other one had seemed to disappear. _

**_No. _**_Lucy thought._**_ I won't go down like this. I have to fight - for my friends!_**_ Yet she didn't know how much longer she could hold on. Darkness began to cloud in the edges of her vision, and everything was spinning. She began to stumble, until she felt a pair of warm, muscular arms close around her. _

_"__It's okay." he whispered to her as he hugged her closer. _

_Her eyes began to close. She couldn't breathe. _

_"__Luce!" Natsu's panicked eyes looked into hers. He shook her._

_Lucy winced, then opened her eyes - for one startling moment of clarity - to look up at the pink haired boy. There was a flame dancing in his eyes, and a small crease between his eyebrows. "Natsu," she breathed. _

_Then the darkness overcame her yet again and she knew nothing. _

Here they were again. The same mages. "We want revenge." they growled.

Lucy took out her keys and swiped them through the air, trying to open them. But it was no use, her source of magic was running low owing to the fact that she was sick. _No._ She thought, fearful. _No._

"Natsu!" she yelled. "Help!"

"Calling for your boyfriend again?" they sneered. "He always gets here too late."

Lucy took out her whip, ready to strike, when she was slammed into the wall. She couldn't breathe, and felt choked.

"Stop," she gasped. "Please,"

"Never." the mage whispered menacingly.

Then, she felt it. A knife stabbed into her shoulder, and Lucy's vision went startlingly red with pain, and then black.

**Thanks for reading! Please review. See you in the next chapter. **


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**Well. Here's a new chapter. It's definitely shorter than usual, but it has a lot more action, and I wanted to get it up. **

**Thanks for the reviews, favorites and follows!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Hiro Mashima. **

**Enjoy! **

Natsu sat atop the roof, looking at the constellations in the sky. Each star glimmered, a soul. He pointed out the various constellations to himself - Gemini, the Lion, Virgo. _Lucy would have liked this. _He sighed.

Unwillingly, his mind wandered to the events of the previous evening. _I think I am, too. _She'd said. _I should be happy, right?_ Natsu thought bitterly to himself. _The girl I love loves me back. _

His fingers played with his scarf, restless. _Well, for some reason, she doesn't want to be with me. Girls are so confusing. _

In the distance, Natsu's special hearing picked up a familiar voice, yelling for help. "Natsu!" the voice shouted. "Help!" _Lucy. _Natsu thought fearfully. Jumping off of the roof, he ran in the direction of Lucy's voice.

As he ran, countless thoughts crossed his mind - all about Lucy being tortured, killed, and captured.

When he finally reached the desolate alley, he didn't like what he saw. A bloodied, bruised, Lucy lay on the ground.

"Lucy!" Natsu gasped. He ran over to her body, and immediately jerked his hand to the crook of her neck to feel for a pulse. There was a quiet beat under his fingertips, and Natsu sighed in relief. However, when he turned his attention to the rest of her body, his anger returned. Her clothes were in tatters, soaked in blood. There was a deep stab wound in her shoulder, and there were angry welts running down her back.

"You hurt Lucy." Natsu turned to the three mages and attacked with angry red hot flames.

"Roar of the Fire Dragon!"

The mages stumbled back in shock, but soon retaliated. Swirls of black flames, weapons, and mist ensued. These mages weren't any mages, they were powerful dark mages.

"What are you going to do now, dragon slayer? You can't beat us." the dark mage taunted.

"No one hurts my friends." Natsu growled. "Especially Lucy."

Soon, more flashes of magic were exchanged, and Natsu was thrown into the wall behind Lucy, creating a hole. _Bam!_

He slammed onto the ground, and although he tried to get up, his energy was completely depleted.

"Lucy," he groaned.

Lucy's eyes opened. "Natsu!" her eyes brightened, despite being in extreme torment.. Ants couldn't have been more glad to see her awake.

"You're - awake!" Natsu groaned in pain.

Suddenly, Lucy was snatched up into the air by an invisible hand.

"Lucy!" Natsu cried.

Lucy's mouth opened to reply, but she couldn't breathe. Suddenly, the mage jerked his hand to the left, and Lucy's body moved to the right in response - and slammed into the wall. Lucy, able to breathe, screamed.

"Let her go." Natsu growled, struggling to his feet in necessity. He wouldn't let anyone hurt Lucy. Ever.

"Natsu Dragneel. You will regret coming after us. You can watch your girlfriend die and then we will kill you as well." the dark mage grinned maliciously.

The mage swiped his hand through the air and Lucy let out a shrill scream, her body quivering.

"Stop. It. Now." Natsu growled and attacked the mage. Consequently, Lucy fell to the ground, unconscious once more.

In a blaze of anger, Natsu attacked and killed all three mages. The flames lit up the dark desolate alley, a flicker of light in a dark area of Magnolia. Normally, Natsu didn't kill, but torturing Lucy - that was crossing the line. However, when he was done with the deed, Natsu truly opened his eyes.

_W-what have I done? _He decided not to dwell too much on the fact that he had just murdered three people and He ran over the celestial mage, who was lying down on the cobblestone streets of Magnolia. Her blond hair was streaked with blood, her body covered in bruises and cuts. Natsu felt for a beat, his fingers in the crook of her neck. However, he couldn't find anything.

"Lucy." he croaked. "Wake up."

There was no response.

"Damn it Lucy. Open your eyes." he pleaded, his voice getting thick. "Please."

His hands found hers, and Natsu's eyes began to tear up._ It was too late. _He thought.

"Luce?" Natsu pleaded yet again. "I-if you die, I don't know what I'll do. Please. _Please._"

Tears began to fall from the boy's face. _She's dead._ The young dragon slayer lowered his lips to hers, and whispered three words: "I love you,"

"I love you, too," a soft reply stated, one that only Natsu could hear.

"Lucy? Y-you're alive!"

She simply looked up at him, beautiful brown orbs blinking.

"Thank you, Natsu," she finally whispered as Natsu lowered his lips yet again to hers.

Far above, stars glowed in the ebony night. Each star, a soul. Each constellation, a story. Each galaxy, a world. The Earthland, this world that Lucy lived in, was so small, so insignificant, yet to her, it was everything.

**How was it? Please review - it makes me happy. :)**

**See you in the next chapter...**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**Hey guys! Sorry for not posting in a while, I have been really busy with school. To make it up, I will be posting more in the upcoming weeks.**

**Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail, not me. (sadly)**

**Enjoy!**

Natsu looked at Lucy, who he had propped up against a wall. He had lost quite a bit of energy in the fight with the three mages.

"Where are they now?" Lucy asked, looking up into his eyes, referring to the mages.

Natsu averted his eyes. "They're over there," he stated quietly, jerking his eyes to the three corpses laying underneath the rubble remaining from the fight.

"Y-you killed them?" There was something similar to fear lurking in those beautiful big brown orbs of Lucy's.

"They tortured you Lucy. That and they were a threat to Fairy Tail, because they were working for Zeref." Natsu said angrily.

Lucy didn't say anything, her face taut with pain.

It was at that moment that the blue colored cat Happy flew into the alley. When he saw the bruised, beat up couple, he came to a rapid halt, eyes widening.

"L-lucy!? Natsu!? W-w-what happened?" he cried, seeing the scene - a dark, desolate alley in Magnolia, cobblestone streets splattered with blood, three bodies laying on the ground, and a desperate couple against the wall.

Natsu turned to Happy, his hand covering the wound on his stomach to prevent the flow of blood. He was about to say something, until Lucy coughed, and blood spewed out of her mouth due to a possibly punctured lung.

"Lucy!" Natsu cried. Lucy jerked in response, presumably from the pain. "Get Wendy, and tell Mira." he said to Happy urgently.

Happy flew away as fast as he could. Meanwhile, Natsu hugged Lucy as he tried to stay conscious. Lucy's eyes were closing, and as she was on the brink of death, he wanted - needed - her to stay awake.

"Hey," he stated quietly, insistently, desperately. "Look at me."

Lucy's jerking stopped for a moment - the briefest of moments - as her brown eyes opened and looked into Natsu's. Then, it began again, and she cried out in pain.

"It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay" Natsu said, attempting to convince both himself and Lucy. Deep inside, Natsu knew that Lucy's body wasn't as strong as it used to be, and he didn't know how Lucy would fend off a second serious injury.

Lucy eventually calmed down, and the couple sat like that for a few more minutes. She rested her head against his shoulder, and eventually, she drifted off into a soft sleep. Natsu tried to stay awake, in case any one else came, yet soon, his heavy lids closed just as he heard the voices of his comrades in the distance.

**Oblivion**

Lucy was floating. Her eyes closed as she floated through oblivion, her mind blank. Yet something wasn't right - she could tell that much. Slowly, she decided to one eye at a time, her lids cracking open.

Black. Nothingness. Oblivion.

"Am I dead?" she wondered aloud, to no one in particular. "Where am I?"

"You're here," a soft, familiar voice said.

_No. I-it can't be!_ Lucy thought, surprised. Her eyes closed, to imagine a beautiful figure with blonde hair and a loving smile.

A soft tinkle of laughter surrounded the celestial spirit mage. "That isn't enough, is it? You want to know what's going on. You were always curious, Lucy. It is in that way that you take after me."

"M-mom?" Lucy breathed. "W-hat's going on?" All sorts of feelings floated through a river emotions - grief, confusion, and above all, love.

"Lucy," Layla Heartfilia's voice said affectionally. "My daughter. You have come so far. I am so proud of you."

"I'm dead, aren't I?" Lucy asked matter-of-factly.

"No, honey. You aren't." Lucy's mother's voice dropped considerably.

"I'm dying, then, aren't I?"

"Y-you have a choice." Layla's voice sounded sorrowful.

"W-what do you mean?" Lucy demanded.

"Lucy," the voice said gently. "You know that even if you do go back-"

"I'll still come back, won't I?"

"Yes, Lucy."

"But, what about Natsu?" Lucy frowned, floating in the darkness that was oblivion. Her mind flashed back to their kiss, his confession, the feeling of being in his arms.

"What about Natsu?" Layla asked.

"Won't it just hurt him even more if I went back now, and then left again?"

"Lucy, my daughter. If it's one thing I have learned, It's that I would give anything for one more day - one more day - with my family, with you, I would have given anything." she said emotionally.

"But, this - this is different. Coming back and then leaving again, that's - that's brutal,"

"You love, him, don't you?" Layla asked softly. "That's why it hurts you, too. But that's why you have to go back - it's the things you do for the people you love most."

Lucy paused, "Okay, I'll go back." She could almost here the soft, sad smile on her mother's face.

Lucy closed her eyes, and as oblivion faded away, she could hear a soft voice fading away.

"I love you, Lucy." her voice echoed.

Oblivion faded away, and the world spun into focus.

**Thanks for reading! See you guys in the next chapter. **


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

**Hey guys! Here's another chapter...I hope you like it!**

**Thanks for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows - it means a lot to me. Keep up the good work!**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Fairy Tail, but (as you can tell) I don't. **

**Enjoy! **

Lucy's eyes flew open to a concerned Wendy looking down over her.

"Lucy-san! You're awake!" the young sky dragon slayer exclaimed.

"Natsu," Lucy whispered, trying to form a coherent thought, grasping at the left over wisps of her dream, of her mother, of Natsu. "Where is he? Is he alright?"

A crease formed between the two eyebrows of the young dragon slayer. She opened her mouth, then closed it again, as if debating what to say.

"Natsu-san woke up a couple days ago. He's okay a-" Wendy stopped talking, as if she thought better of saying something.

Lucy glared at her. "What?" she demanded.

"He's on a mission for another healer. The reward is a potion that he thinks might be able to cure you." Wendy said in a rush.

"What!? I told him…there isn't another way." she said angrily.

"He'll be back in a couple of days, Lucy-san. The potion - it won't heal you, but it should lessen the pain." Wendy said softly. "He loves you, he loves you so, so much."

"I have even less time left now, don't I?" Lucy asked.

Wendy's eyes closed. "After this…before you would've had around 6 weeks…now you have just under a month. Maybe three weeks at the most. I'm sorry." the young mage trembled, and tears slipped down her cheeks.

"Will the pain - will it get worse?" As much as Lucy didn't want to admit it, she was afraid.

"That's why Natsu-san went for the potion. Of course, he thinks it'll cure you…but it should help." she said.

"Thank you, Wendy, for everything." Lucy said.

The two mages sat in companionable silence until Lucy swayed.

"You should get some sleep, Lucy. I still have to finish healing you."

Lucy nodded, and closed her eyes as she fell back into oblivion for the second time in less than a week.

**Two Days Later**

Lucy faded in and out of consciousness. Everything was a blur of voices, sounds, and memories. At some point, Lucy was able to somehow focus.

She felt her hand in between two warm, calloused, and rough ones. _Natsu._ She thought blearily.

"Lucy," he breathed. Lucy could practically hear the frown on his face, the ever so slight crease between his eyebrows.

"Wake up. Please, Luce. It's no fun without you." he whispered.

One of his hands reached up to stroke her hair, and Lucy struggled to pull herself back to the real world.

"I miss you, Lucy. The whole guild does. I went on a mission to find you a cure, and I know that you wouldn't want me to, but I can't bear the thought of losing you." he pauses, as if contemplating what to do next.

"I got it. It's a potion. I'm sure it'll cure you, Lucy. You'll be as good as new in no time! Then we can go on missions again." Natsu gushed hopefully, as if he was trying to convince himself that she'd be okay.

"I miss you, Lucy. A week ago, I thought I was going to lose you for good. If you die…if you die….I don't think I'll be able to live." he whispered, and Lucy felt a tear trip onto her arm.

She struggled fruitlessly, trying to pull herself back to reality, yet it was useless.

"I love you Lucy Heartfilia," he breathed as he pressed his lips against hers. "Come back to me,"

Lucy tried yet again, reaching toward a ray of light. However, just as she grasped the single strand of light, she fell back - back into the darkness that was her mind.

_I love you, Lucy Heartfilia. _

**One Day Later**

Lucy's eyes slowly opened to onyx ones staring down back at her.

"Lucy!" the salmon haired mage exclaimed, disbelieving. "Y-you're awake. You're finally awake." The disheveled boy looked as if he had lost all hope.

"Natsu," Lucy breathed, struggling to get up.

Natsu gently pushed Lucy back down. "You need to rest," he said quietly.

"I missed you," she whispered.

"I missed you too," he said, pressing his lips to her forehead.

He handed her a glass. "Here, drink this."

Lucy paused. "This is the potion, isn't it?" she said softly. It wasn't even a question, it was a statement.

Natsu looked at her with surprise. "Who told you?"

"Wendy did. Natsu, you know that this won't cure me, right?" Lucy said cautiously. She had decided not to mention that she had heard Natsu crying.

"It will!" he said fiercely.

"You're lying to yourself, Natsu. This poison has no cure." Lucy replied flatly.

"So you _want_ to die?" Natsu asked angrily.

"Of course I don't want to die!" Lucy shouted, sitting up despite the pain. This time, Natsu made no move to stop her.

"It seems like you've given up. It's almost like you don't care anymore." Natsu shook his head, anger gone. His was disappointed in Lucy.

Lucy was stunned. She would take disappointed Natsu any day. This? This was completely different. Something she didn't want to deal with.

Natsu gestured to the glass. "Well?" he said, devoid of emotion.

Lucy drank the potion, but didn't say anything. She placed the glass on the bedside table. Natsu's mouth was drawn in a taut line, yet he didn't say a word.

"Go to sleep, you need the rest." he said, and turned to leave the room.

Lucy winced, not only because of the physical pain she was experiencing, but the emotional pain as well. A couple of minutes later, Mira walked through the door of the room.

"Lucy, how are you feeling?" Mira asked gently.

Lucy was grateful that for once, someone hadn't asked her that she was okay - because she wasn't.

She sighed. "I'm fi-"

"Don't lie to me," Mira said sharply. "You can tell me the truth," she continued softly.

Lucy paused, "It hurts. It hurts so much." She whispered softly.

"The potion should help with that," Mira said softly as she reached over to hug Lucy.

"Thank you," Lucy whispered, overwhelmed with emotion for her Fairy Tail comrades, her family.

They sat in friendly silence for a couple minutes.

Mira said cautiously, "Do you want to tell me what happened with Natsu? He seemed pretty angry - he even kicked over several tables!"

Lucy sighed. "I th-I think it's because I'm dying." she said softly.

"He really loves you, doesn't he?" Mira asked.

"I love him too. It's just that - I don't want to hurt him."

"It'll hurt him more if you're not with him, you know that, right?"

Lucy was beginning to realize that this conversation was parallel to the one she'd had with her mother - if that had even been real.

"I know…but with what Wendy told me, it looks as if my life span has been cut in half." Lucy said flatly.

"I know, Wendy told me." Mira said softly.

Lucy's head jerked up. "Does Natsu know?"

"He's so broken," Mira stated quietly, "We decided it would be best if you told him yourself. But it's up to you. You can wait if you want."

Lucy, for the first time in days, smiled. "Thank you, Mira."

Mira returned the warm smile, and then stood up to leave.

"I'm glad I could be of help. You can talk to Natsu in the morning. For now, why don't you go to sleep for a little bit? You need the rest."

Lucy nodded - her eyes were already feeling heavy. As she fell asleep, Natsu's voice echoed in her head.

_I love you, Lucy Heartfilia. _

**How was it? Thanks for reading! I'll see you in the next chapter. :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**Well, here's another chapter! I'm really grateful for everybody reviewing. I hope that you enjoy this chapter, and just in case you happen to celebrate Christmas, happy Christmas Eve!**

**Disclaimer: Let's make this simple - I don't own Fairy Tail. I'm not that creative. Okay? Okay. **

**Enjoy!**

Lucy sat in her bed, slowly chewing on some bread that Mira had given her, staring out of the window. It amazed her that even after she would be gone, the world would continue working, a well oiled machine. The birds would still chirp, the plants would still grow, her friends would live on.

_Stop that. _She reprimanded herself. Lucy had made it a general rule to not think about her fast approaching fate. Her mind turned to lighter thoughts, such as the fact that she would be able to return home in a few hours. She then heard someone knock on the door.

"Lucy? It's Natsu. May I come in? Please?" the voice on the other side of the door sounded apologetic.

Lucy was confused because Natsu never, _ever _knocked or acted so gentleman-like. Nevertheless, she let him into the small infirmary room in the guild.

After a couple moments of awkward silence, Natsu said, "Hey,"

"Hey," she said softly.

"I'm sorry," he said. "You know, for earlier."

"It's okay," Lucy replied. She wanted to say more, but she didn't know what else. There was nothing else to say.

Natsu walked over to her bed and paused by her bedside, then sat down on the soft quilt.

"Thank you," she whispered. "For getting the potion for me,"

Natsu's lips pressed together. "It wasn't enough," he said hoarsely. "You were right."

"Wendy told you." It was a statement, not a question.

Natsu simply nodded and the two sat in silence for a couple more moments, until Lucy coughed into a tissue. When she pulled it away, it was covered in blood. Natsu's eyes widened.

"Lucy! We need to get Wendy." He stood up and go ready to run out the door, however, Lucy weakly held up a hand.

"Wendy already knows," she said quietly. "There's nothing anybody can do."

She coughed again, and Natsu rushed to her side.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." she stated weakly.

Natsu frowned and said, as if it was obvious, "Of course I'll worry about you. I love you."

It was that simple declaration of love that broke Lucy. Her mind flashed back to before - that fateful night when she had been first attacked, her conversation with her mother and Mira, and Natsu's confession to her when she had been asleep. She decided that she wasn't going to let her fate determine how she lived her life - or what was remaining it. For now, at least.

"I love you, too." she whispered as Natsu closed the already small gap between their lips. For the first time in days, Lucy was able to forget. To forget about the pain. To forget about her fate. To forget about the torment that she would cause Natsu and her friends.

Lucy paused. _Is this the right thing to do? Won't this hurt Natsu more? _She frowned, and Natsu noticed that something was wrong. He pulled away and touched his thumb to the crease between her eyebrows.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

_No. I would just hurt him more if I pull away. _

"Nothing's wrong," she looked up at him, brown orbs blinking.

"Are you sure?" he asked, searching her eyes.

"I'm sure," she said, lying. Things were wrong. _He's so broken. You have to tell him. _Mira's voice echoed in her head. _Just a little longer. You can tell him later. _Lucy thought to herself.

Lucy sat up in her bed, wincing. However, she knew that the potion that Natsu gave her was helping.

"Thanks again, Natsu. For the potion, I mean. I don't know what I'd do without it. I'd be in so much pain." she said.

Natsu shrugged as his way of saying "You're welcome."

"Hey, Lucy. You're well enough to walk, right?"

Lucy nodded, puzzled.

"You wanna go out for dinner? I'm starving." Natsu's eyes didn't meet Lucy's, and he was blushing.

"Dinner? Natsu, is this a date?" Lucy asked slyly, to see if she could get him to blush more this whole asking her out on a date thing was completely hilarious to her.

"Maybe," he mumbled, blushing even more. "Let's go, then!" Natsu said, looking up.

Lucy looked down at her ragged clothes. "But Natsu, I don't have anything to wear!" she fretted.

Natsu grinned. "Loke dropped by earlier, and I asked him to bring some clothes from Virgo,"

He reached behind the bed to pull out a ravishing white, strapless, knee length dress. "They both say hi, by the way,"

Lucy was awed, and beyond words. "It's beautiful," she finally breathed.

Natsu grinned again. "Just put it on," he said, walking out the door.

Lucy gave a soft smile and put on the dress. However, before she looked at herself in the mirror, she brushed out her hair and pinned it up. Lucy turned around to face the mirror. She didn't know why there was a mirror in the room, as it was in the small guild infirmary, yet what she saw shocked her. Although her body had definitely lost some of her shape and muscle due to her sickness, the dress from the celestial spirit world made her look stunning. The crystal white dress had a ravishing shimmery quality to it.

Natsu knocked on the door, jerking her out of her reverie. "Luce! You're taking forever!" he whined.

Lucy smiled to herself. As gentleman-like as Natsu may act, he was still the same old childish dragon slayer she had met more than seven years ago.

"I'm done!" she called out.

Natsu opened the door and stepped in the room toward Lucy, presumably to take her arm. He himself had taken the liberty to haphazardly pull on a suit. However, when he saw Lucy, he froze.

"You look beautiful," he breathed.

Lucy smiled shyly. "You don't look so bad yourself,"

Natsu blushed and stepped forward to take her arm. "Shall we go, Ms. Heartfilia?" he asked.

"Why yes, Mr. Dragneel!" Lucy replied, playing along.

Together, the couple walked out into the guild hall. The first person to run up to the couple was Mira.

"You two look so cute together!" she gushed. "Where did you get that dress, Lucy?"

"It's from the celestial spirit world. Natsu got it for me, actually,"

"Natsu got it for you? He's such a gentleman!" Mira squealed.

"Natsu Dragneel? A gentleman? Have you lowered your standards, or something?" Gray sauntered up to Natsu, arm in arm with Juvia, a smirk on his face.

Natsu mumbled something under his breath about Gray being an idiot.

"What did you say, Flame Brain?" Gray asked threateningly.

"Hypocrite. Look at you with your girlfriend. Idiot." Natsu said, a little louder.

This time, it was Gray's turn to blush. He hastily pulled himself away from a protesting Juvia.

"Natsu! Lucy!" Erza barked.

"Eh!?" Lucy visibly jumped.

"Where are you taking her, Natsu?" Erza asked.

"To a restaurant in town," Natsu said vaguely.

"It's safe, right?"

"We'll be fine, Erza," Natsu rolled his eyes.

Erza took a step toward Natsu and said menacingly, "You better keep her safe Natsu, or I'll kill you,"

Natsu had the nerve to laugh, and then tugged Lucy toward the door, only to be stopped by a squealing Levy.

"Lu-chan! You're finally together with Natsu!" she squealed.

Lucy grinned. "We're going out for dinner, Levy-chan!" The two best friends hugged.

"Well, have fun Lu-chan!" Levy said excitedly.

"Come on, Lucy!" Natsu tugged Lucy toward the door, only to be stopped by the Master.

Natsu huffed in exasperation and looked down upon the small Master of Fairy Tail. "What now!?"

The Master simply smiled and looked up cheekily at the couple. "Have fun!"

"You…" Natsu grumbled.

"Natsu," Lucy put a hand on Natsu's shoulder. "Thank you Master, but we should really get going."

The Master stepped aside, and was replaced by Wendy Marvell, the healer that had been taking care of Lucy.

"If you need anything, bring her back to the guild," she said softly.

"Thank you, Wendy," Lucy replied.

"Have fun!" Wendy said, looking up at the couple with huge eyes filled with sorrow.

"We will," Natsu said, rushing Lucy out of the door so as not to be stopped by anymore guild members.

The couple walked out of the guild and onto the cobblestone streets of Magnolia, together at last.

**Thanks for reading! Please review. See you all in the next chapter!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**Here's a new chapter for you guys! Sorry guys - I'm really bad about writing fluff like this, so bear with me. However, I feel that Natsu and Lucy deserved a date, after all that they've been through.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, that pleasure goes to the one and only Hiro Mashima.**

**Enjoy! **

Natsu and Lucy walked through cobblestone streets of Magnolia, hand in hand. Before, Lucy had never understood why couples constantly held hands. However, now Lucy understood: it was as if there was a million bolts of electricity constantly passing between her hand and Natsu's.

"So, Mr. Dragneel, where are we going for dinner?" Lucy playfully shoved Natsu.

"We are going to a restaurant called _La Nuit Étoilée_, Ms. Heartfilia," Natsu smiled.

"Sounds good!" Lucy returned the warm smile.

Natsu simply laughed and pulled her along to the small restaurant. Despite its size, it was beautiful.

"Natsu…you didn't!" Lucy gasped. _La Nuit Étoilée _was one of the fanciest restaurants in Magnolia - and most expensive.

"I just did," Natsu gave a lopsided grin.

The couple walked into the restaurant and were seated by a waitress. After much banter, they ordered their food.

"When is the food going to get here?" Natsu whined fifteen minutes later. "I'm hungry!"

Lucy smiled at Natsu's antics. "It'll come here soon, Natsu. Be patient,"

The two sat in a comfortable silence for a little bit, and even though she knew that this was the right thing, Lucy couldn't help but feel a little guilty - not only for being with Natsu even though she was about to die, but also because she was lying to him about how much time she had left.

Natsu must have seen something change in Lucy's eyes, because he took both of her hands and looked deep into her eyes.

"Lucy. Lucy - look at me," Natsu said.

Lucy's eyes focused back on Natsu. "I-I'm sorry," she whispered.

"We're not going to think about that right now," Natsu stated firmly, somehow knowing what Lucy was thinking. "Okay?"

"Okay," she replied.

Just then, the waitress came around with the food and set it down on the table. There were heaps of food, and Natsu eyed the plates hungrily, then dug in.

"You eat too much!" Lucy laughed.

"Shut up," Natsu mumbled through bites of food.

The two laughed and reminisced throughout their meal.

"Oh and remember that time I turned invisible?" Lucy laughed.

"Yeah! We had to make our own Lucy heads," Natsu spewed food everywhere as he talked.

"Natsu!" Lucy scolded.

"Sorry," Natsu mumbled through his food.

"Everyone almost forgot me," Lucy said. "I was so scared, but then you remembered,"

"How could I forget you? You're my Luce," Natsu stared deep into Lucy's brown orbs, and took both of her hands yet again. "I'll never forget you," he whispered.

Lucy's smile dropped. "Natsu," she breathed, at a loss for words.

"I mean it. I'll never forget you," he said softly. "It doesn't matter though,"

"What do you mean?" Lucy looked at Natsu with a puzzled expression.

"You still have a month and a half left, right? We _have_ to find something. Don't worry Lucy, it'll be okay," Natsu declared.

Lucy's mouth opened, but then she clamped it shut. She didn't want to lie to Natsu, but she didn't want to crush his hope, either.

"Lucy?" Natsu looked at her with concern.

"Y-yeah Natsu. It'll be okay," she said shakily.

Just then, a wave of pain overcame her. It felt as if a million needles were penetrating her body. Her eyes became unfocused, then closed, and she hunched over, clutching her stomach. Tears streamed down her face, and she gritted her teeth together.

Natsu's eyes widened and he walked over to Lucy. "Lucy!"

It pained him - so much - that he wasn't able to do anything. He stroked her hair and held her hand and whispered in her ear.

"I love you," he whispered, over and over again. "Just please - come back to me,"

Slowly, Lucy's breathing slowed, and her eyes opened again. "Natsu," she whispered.

"Come on," he said. "We'll get you back to Wendy,"

Lucy, however, held up a hand. "Wendy already healed me today. If she heals me again, then it won't work when it really matters,' she said weakly.

Natsu's mouth opened, then closed. He held a glass of water to Lucy's mouth. "Let's go home, then," he said. "You can rest,"

"I'm fine, Natsu - really. I've gotten used to it," she said, as color began to return to her face.

Natsu hated it - how she had to get used to it. His brow furrowed. She didn't deserve this.

"Lucy…" he whispered.

The waitress walked to the table, as Lucy's episode had gathered a lot of attention.

"Is she okay?" the waitress asked.

"She's fine," Natsu said gratefully. He helped Lucy up, and wrote the check. The two walked out of the restaurant, then Natsu grabbed Lucy's arm.

"Are you sure you're-"

"I'm fine, Natsu," Lucy whispered.

"Well, then. Do you want to go to the park? We can watch the stars," Natsu offered.

Lucy's face brightened considerably. "Sure,"

The two held hands and walked down the street to the nearby park, just as the sun was setting. They found a comfortable spot on a hill between two trees. Soon, they could see the stars.

"See that, Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"What, the stars?" Natsu replied.

Lucy nodded. "Each of my friends are up there. Gemini, Loke, Aries - all of them. Sometimes, I like to think that my parents are up there, too," she said quietly.

Natsu stayed silent, and instead, watched the way that the moonlight illuminated her face, highlighting her eyes, and her lips.

"Someday, I'll be up there," she sighed.

"Not anytime soon, though. We'll find a cure," Natsu whispered.

Lucy turned away, and looked at the stars. She didn't want Natsu to see her face, because he could always tell when she was lying.

"They're beautiful, just like you," he continued.

The corners of Lucy's lips turned up, and Natsu leaned in for a kiss.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too," she replied.

Suddenly, pain flared in Lucy's chest. She leaned back, away from him, breaking the kiss.

Natsu looked confused. "Lucy?" he asked.

Lucy began coughing, hacking.

Natsu's eyes widened. "Lucy!" he scrambled in his pocket for a handkerchief, which he quickly handed for Lucy. He could do nothing but hold her as the handkerchief rapidly stained red with blood. After a couple minutes, the coughing slowed, and all that remained was a pounding headache.

"Are you okay?" Natsu asked cautiously.

"I'm fine, Natsu," Lucy replied weakly.

"Let's go home, Lucy. We need to talk to Wendy - whether you like it or not," he said firmly.

Lucy nodded, and attempted to get to her feet. However, she stumbled and fell into the dragon slayer's arms. She looked up helplessly into his eyes, hating how she was unable to do anything for herself.

"It's okay," Natsu said gently. "I'll carry you home,"

"Thank you," came the soft reply.

Natsu scooped up Lucy's frail body into his arms, and walked onto the moonlit streets of Magnolia.

**Thanks for reading! See you guys in the upcoming chapter. **


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

**Wow. I am so ****_so _****sorry. I kept on telling myself I would update but I am really****busy and I had writer's block and wow, I'm now out of excuses. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. **

**Anyways..enjoy!**

Natsu watched Lucy as she slept peacefully on the bed. Her frail body rattled as she breathed. However, she looked beautiful, with her blonde hair and closed eyes. He gritted his teeth. It wasn't fair that someone so beautiful and so kind and so _good_.

_There has to be a way to save her. _He thought as he held her hand in his. His mind wandered to the previous night.

_"__I love you," he whispered._

_"__I love you, too," she replied. _

_Suddenly, Lucy's face constricted in pain. She leaned back, away from him, breaking the kiss. _

_Natsu, confused and worried, asked, "Lucy?"_

_Lucy began coughing, hacking. _**_No. _**_Natsu thought. _**_Not now. _**

_His eyes widened. "Lucy!" and he scrambled in his pocket for a handkerchief, which he quickly handed Lucy. He could do nothing but hold her as the handkerchief rapidly stained red with blood. Natsu hated this - being able to do nothing as the person he loved most in the world died in a most painful and horrible way. After a couple minutes, the coughing slowed, and Lucy nestled her head in Natsu's chest. _

"Natsu-san," Wendy said softly. "You can't save her,"

A tear slipped down Natsu's cheek. "I have to," he mumbled to himself. "If I lose her…"

Natsu was jerked out of his trance when Lucy began twisting under the covers.

"Lucy-san is in a lot of pain…and I can't stop it…I'm not strong enough," Wendy whispered, crying.

"It's not your fault, Wendy. It was those damn wizards," Natsu replied with gritted teeth as he held Lucy close.

"I'm sorry," Wendy whispered, then turned and ran out of the room.

Lucy twisted at turned, eyes squeezed shut, teeth gritted tight. She looked as if she was on the brink of death. Her body convulsed, and all Natsu could do was hug her closer, tighter.

He moved his lips against her hair. "I love you," he whispered. Over time, she stopped convulsing.

Although Lucy was in pain, there were no words for the world of hurt Natsu was in. _It should have been me, _he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

Natsu's dream was a swirl of incomprehensible colors, and sounds. When he opened his eyes, there was no one next to him.

"Lucy?" he mumbled sleepily. "Where are you?"

Panicking, Natsu shot up and out of bed. "Lucy!?" he yelled.

_No, _he thought. _No. She can't be - no. _

Natsu ran out of the room, yelling, "Lucy!"

In blind panic, Natsu ran around the room, screaming, until Erza punched him in the stomach and forced him to stop.

"L-lucy," Natsu groaned, unable to say anything else.

"Lucy's alright flame-brain. She's sitting on some roof somewhere," Gray said.

"I have to-" Natsu struggled to get out of Erza's firm grip.

"I don't think she wants to talk right now, Natsu," the powerful Titania said gently. "Maybe you should wait for a little bit,"

"No," Natsu said urgently, "I have to talk to her right now,"

"Well, I don't know where she is, Natsu," Erza said.

Natsu's face visibly deflated. He thought back to earlier, when he and Lucy had had a conversation on the roof.

"But I think I might," he replied as he headed out the door.

Natsu ran down the cobblestone streets of Magnolia until he reached the building that he and Lucy had sat atop of before. On the roof was a small, beautiful figure, looking out into the sunset. _Lucy._

"Lucy!" he called. "I'm coming up!"

The dragon slayer didn't wait for an answer, and quickly began to scale the building from the outside.

"Natsu," Lucy said sadly once Natsu had reached the top.

"Lucy, what's wrong?" he asked, then quickly added, "Apart from, you know…"

"I-I don't think this is working out, Natsu,"

Natsu noted that Lucy wasn't looking at him when she spoke. _That's weird, Lucy always looks at me when she speaks._ he thought.

"Lucy, what are you hiding from me?" Natsu asked, having come to the conclusion that Lucy was lying to him.

Lucy opened her mouth, than closed it again. "No-"

"Don't lie to me," he said sharply, more than he meant to.

"Natsu…" she said sadly. "I love you, and you know that. But what is this for? I'm going to die anyways…there's no chance of us living happily ever after. Why are you here?"

"I'm here because I love you," Natsu said firmly. "We're all going to die someday, and it doesn't matter what happens tomorrow. It matters what we do today, right now," he said, reaching for her hand, but Lucy moved it away.

Lucy opened her mouth again, as if she was about to say something, but bursted into a fit of coughs instead. She whipped out a blood stained cloth and coughed into it. When she finally pulled away, her teeth were red, and blood was dripping out of her mouth. Lucy was shaking, and Natsu, seeing this, gently pulled the cloth away from her hand and dabbed at her mouth, all while holding her still.

_What's going on? We're still supposed to have at least a month together…_Natsu thought. _She shouldn't be looking this bad, not now, not yet!_

"It's okay, Lucy, you can tell me anything,"Natsu said softly.

"Natsu," she whispered. "After the attack…they - they stabbed me with another knife. With poison," Lucy took a shaky breath. "I talked to Wendy and - and," she stopped, unable to continue.

"And what?" Natsu asked, a foreboding prickling down his spine.

"I-I only have a week left," she said in a rush, tears slipping down her cheeks.

"A…a week?" Natsu echoed disbelievingly, unable to move.

"I'm sorry," Lucy whispered as she stood up and left.

Natsu just sat there, stunned, alone on one of the many rooftops of Magnolia.

_A week. _

**Thanks for reading! I'll try to update soon. See you in the next chapter.**


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